Service Animal Versus Support Animal?
A question that needs to be asked right off
the bat pertaining to the topic of therapy-related animals is what’s the difference
between a service animal and an emotional support animal (ESA)? I think it's really hard to tell if dogs you see with vests are legitimate working service dogs
or if their owners put vests on them just to have them around. As it turns out, though, the law answers this
question (but I still don't think it makes it much easier in the real world to figure out the
difference). According to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses that deal with the public have to
make “reasonable modifications” to accommodate people with disabilities, and
that includes their “service animals” which are dogs trained to do certain
tasks for disabled people. These are dogs for medical purposes - they are even tax deductible! Dogs that only
provide emotional support aren’t service animals according to the ADA. That begs the question, though, what exactly is a support dog? The ADA doesn't exactly provide clear guidance on how to tell them apart. Even more confusing, there doesn't appear to be any mention of animals other than dogs in the ADA.
As the video shows, I think there are clearly important reasons to have animals permitted in public places because well-trained service animals really do provide an invaluable resource to people with disabilities. The operative word there is "well-trained." What happens when an animal isn't well-trained, or trained at all? I do believe there are circumstances where people genuinely benefit from the emotional support of an animal, but it's so easy to get ANY animal designated as an ESA. That is fine when all goes well....until it doesn't.
Next week: Animals in Public Places . . .What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!
The article "Pets Allowed," in The New Yorker magazine, provides a little more background. An ESA is an “untrained companion” and two
laws apply to ESA’s. First, if you live
in housing that would normally not let you have a pet, the Fair Housing Act
says you can have one if it is an ESA. Second
(and this one creates a LOT of problems), the Air Access Carrier Act says your
animal can fly with you, without you paying extra for it, as long as it can be on your lap
or under your seat, and it is there for emotional support. The problem is, if you couple the ease of bringing animals into public
places with the difficulty people have
in telling the difference between a service animal and an ESA, you get people taking advantage of the situation and bringing all kinds of animals (aka their pets) where they shouldn’t, or at least where maybe there
need to be some rules. But what rules? And who makes them?
As the video shows, I think there are clearly important reasons to have animals permitted in public places because well-trained service animals really do provide an invaluable resource to people with disabilities. The operative word there is "well-trained." What happens when an animal isn't well-trained, or trained at all? I do believe there are circumstances where people genuinely benefit from the emotional support of an animal, but it's so easy to get ANY animal designated as an ESA. That is fine when all goes well....until it doesn't.
Next week: Animals in Public Places . . .What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!
Works Cited
Marx,
Patricia. “The Confusion About Pets.” The New Yorker, The New
Yorker, 18 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/pets-allowed.
News,
CBS. “Passengers Abuse Rules to Bring Animals on Planes.” CBS News,
CBS Interactive, www.cbsnews.com/video/passengers-abuse-rules-to-bring-animals-on-planes/.
“Service
Animals.” ADA Requirements: Service Animals,
www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm.
The best part about the video you added was the quote from one of the men who use a service dog when he says, "My safety, my life is in the paws of my dog." I love this quote because I think it really gives a user’s perspective on the importance of a support animal. I think it is interesting and I am glad that there is a difference between Emotional Support animals and Service Animals. I'm glad it's a law, but I am still wondering what the true difference law is wise. ESA seems to have almost as much leeway when it comes to being able to go into public as service animals. I also agree with you that emotional support animals are important, but they seem to be lacking any guidelines or rules which will just lead to taking advantage of a great opportunity to people in need. I enjoy your posts so much and I look forward to your next one! I hope we truly get to maybe find a shining light within this topic.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that getting a pet certified as an ESA was that easy, and I find it interesting that people abuse that to get a cheaper cost. I'm curious as to the limitations when it comes to emotional support animals, is it dogs, cats and pigs? or can it be any animal as long as it has the correct effect on the individual needing it? Do the vests provided not state what they are specifically, or do people just overlook that because it's an animal with vest (so it must be a service animal)? Looking forward to seeing what you find more on this topic.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you expanded on the difference between a service animal and a support animal because I didn’t know there was a difference! I found it interesting when you mentioned that dogs used for medical purposes were tax deductible. I didn’t even know that was such a thing, but it makes sense. So, are dogs that are there for emotional support aloud in certain areas, like restaurants, etc. that service animals are? Are they still treated the same? I agree that some people have a hard time telling the difference, I mean I didn’t even know there was a difference. I remember when I was a host in a restaurant, a lady brought in her dog and at first I didn’t even notice the vest, but I also didn’t notice any words written on the vest. Is there a requirement that service or support animals have to have some kind of label on their vest?
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